Product Description

Venice in its heyday. A few aristocratic families rule the High Council
with the Doge as their President. One more family will now be accepted
onto the council. A mighty political battle begins. There are relentless
attacks in the struggle for power in the separate quarters of the city;
clever transferrals and momentous banishments are the order of the
day. You will represent one of the families vying for election. You must
use any and all means at your disposal to win the favor of the Doge. Gain
the highest esteem and you will be the winner!

Product Reviews

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Whether to go for a
banishment and
transfer, or to build a bridge and move the Doge? How many
limit
points to take? Which regions to go after; should it be
Santa Croce
and Dorsoduro or Castello and San Polo? What is everyone
else going
to try to do? These are just some of the many questions you
will face
during a game of San Marco. What difficult, agonizing
questions the
game poses, and what brain-burning fun it is.

First things first, what are you getting in the box and
what does it
cost? San Marco comes with 1 game board, 100 aristocrat
blocks (25 in
each of four different colors), 8 prestige markers, 12 plastic
bridges, 62 action cards, 28 limit cards, 1 doge figure, 1
die, and 1
phase marker. San Marco retails for $35.00. The components are
generally very good. The board is absolutely gorgeous, with
very
attractive colors, and is also functional, and not too
distracting.
While the aristocrat blocks are a bit too small, this seems
to be a
common problem with eurogames. The bridges would be nicer
if they
were made out of wood, but the plastic bridges serve their
purpose.
The cards are small, but workable, and the images on them
are clear
enough to convey their meaning without being too cryptic.
Finally,
you may recognize the doge from Princes of Florence.
Overall, the
components are good (especially the board), but not
exceptional.

So what are you doing for 90 minutes surrounded by all
these tiny
aristocrats? San Marco is an area control game, with a
twist. There
are six different areas in the game, separated by the Canal
Grande,
over which players will build bridges to connect the
regions. Players
earn prestige points by having the most or second-most
aristocrats in
a region when it is scored. The game is played over three
phases,
which are subdivided into rounds. During each round, two
players are
assigned the role of Distributor, and the other two players
are given
the role of Decision-Maker (for a four-player game;
alternatively, in
a three-player game, one player is Distributor and the other
two are
Decision-Makers in each round). Each Distributor receives 5
action
cards and 3 limit cards, and divides them into two piles in
any way
that he or she chooses. In a 4-player game, the Distributor
receives
6 action cards and 4 limit cards, and divides them into
three piles.
Each Decision-Maker then chooses either pile of cards, and the
Distributor receives the remaining pile of cards. This
mechanism in
which one player divides a set of goods and the other player
chooses
which set of goods to take and which set to leave is the
heart and
soul of this game. While San Marco is an area control game
on its
face, it’s really a game of psychology in which you try to
figure out
what the other player will want and how to divide the cards
to make
sure you get what you want.

There are only five different types of action cards.
First, there are
region cards for each of the six different regions, which
allow you to
play one aristocrat in the depicted region. Second, there are
transfer cards, which allow you to transform one opposing
aristocrat
to your color. Third, there are banishment cards, which
allow you to
pick a region, role the die, and remove that many
aristocrats (the
starting setup and banishments are the main source of luck
in the
game, besides luck of the draw, which is mitigated by the
splitting/choosing mechanic). Fourth, there are bridge
cards, which
allow you to build a bridge connecting any two regions, and
bridges
increase the flexibility of region cards, allowing you to place
aristocrats in neighboring regions, and allow you to move
the doge.
Finally, there are doge cards, which allow you to score one
region,
but only those which can be accessed by crossing bridges
(and paying
tolls for using opponent’s bridges).

The limit cards show either the number 1, 2, or 3, and in
contrast to
the action cards, are harmful. Basically, when someone
reaches 10 or
more limit points, the end of the phase is triggered.
Anyone with
less than 10 limit points gets to play in one final bonus
round, and
anyone with less than 10 limit points gets bonus prestige
points equal
to the difference between their total limit points and the
most that
anyone has, and the person with the fewest limit points also
gets one
free banishment. Why would anyone take limit points you
might ask?
The answer is that the Distributor will inevitably put more
limit
points with the better action cards, so you have to decide
whether
it’s worth forgoing all the benefits of having fewer limit
points to
take the better pile of action cards. The trick is that
it’s not
always clear which is the better pile.

What makes San Marco so great anyway? The key to San
Marco lies in
the unique divide/choose mechanic, which gives players
different roles
(Distributor or Decision-Maker) each turn, both of which
present very
difficult decisions. The Distributor is presented with a
handful of
cards, which he can divide any way he chooses. It’s
necessary to
analyze not only your own position, but also your
opponent’s, which
makes this game anything but multiplayer solitaire. It’s
necessary to
discern your opponent’s goals and strategies, and try to
build a pile
of cards that will tempt them, but won’t be too powerful. It’s
necessary to figure out exactly what they’ll do before they
even know
it themselves. The scoring for the game is also very unique
and makes
the game interesting. You can have control of plenty of
regions, but
there’s no guarantee that those regions will score you any
points,
because rather than intermittently scoring all of the
regions, scoring
only happens in individual regions each time a Doge card is
used.
Moreover, the rules for ties make scoring even more
interesting. If
two players tie for the most aristocrats in a region then
they both
get the amount of prestige points normally allocated to the
second
place person. However, if two players tie for the second most
aristocrats in a region then they get nothing at all. Since the
points for first and second place are not very different,
this makes
all of the players strive not only to get the most in a
region, but
also to try to have the other players tied for second.
Hence, players
are once again forced to constantly consider and analyze their
opponent’s positions in order to avoid giving away points
when scoring
the regions they control.

San Marco is not a game for players who don’t want to pay
attention or
who may be distracted. San Marco requires careful attention and
scrutiny, but rewards players with agonizing decisions,
followed by
more decisions, and then some more on top of that. This is
truly a
game where you will control your fate, as long as you keep a
watchful
eye on your opponents, and figure out his plans before he
knows them
himself.

I've only played this game with 4 people. We all love games, but were bored with the traditional cards and domino games that couples tend to play. I think we're hooked! This was a great deviation to the norm - and was fun for everyone alike. We all can see that there is some fairly interesting strategy elements that come into play, and are having fun trying to learn them all. I think it will take us several Friday Night dates before we truly know which strategies are the right ones. Without giving away any strategical hints - one of the things I love most about this game is the ebb & flow of the balance of power in this game! I also love, and love to watch others as they contemplate how to divvy up their playing cards in hopes that they will end up getting something back that will benefit them in the end.

Only downside that I see is that a max of only 4 people can play.

My recommendation from a born-again board-gamer is to rush out and buy yourself a copy - before they are all gone for good!

One of the many good things about this game is that can you explain it as you play it without detriment, so forget the rulebook recital, just get on with it.

The gameplay is all you could expect: player interaction, teasing decsions and a bit of luck. The theme itself doesn't get too buried beneath the abstractions, thanks to an interesting gameboard and some cute bridges. Venice may stink a bit, but this game certainly doesn't.

We defy any economist to predict how these assets and liabilities will be distributed, let alone selected! Each player in turn divides the cards in his hand into two groups. Another player chooses one of the groups, accumulates its Penalty Cards, and executes the Action Cards. Players' tasks are immensely challenging. The dividing player then uses the remaining group of cards. Actions may bring about placement, movement, or banishment of Aristocrats in the Venetian districts; alternatively, they may initiate scoring--players with the most Aristocrats in a district earn points. Rounds end when a player reaches 10 Penalty Points, and highest score wins after three rounds of superbly difficult decisions. Last year's Family Strategy Runner-Up is still worthy of your undivided attention.

John McCallion
(Games Magazine)

December 31, 2001

Could this be the world's hardest division problem? Players take turns selecting one of two groups of cards, formed by another player from randomly chosen cards representing useful Actions and penalty Limits. The "Selector" retains the Limits, and discards the Actions after use, of his chosen group. The "Distributor" similarly uses the other group. Actions govern the placing and removal of Aristocrats in a district, or initiate scoring. You score by having the most Aristocrats in a district. Rounds end when one player reaches 10 Limits; the others get bonuses. Highest score after three rounds wins. "Buy this" is our undivided opinion.

Larry Levy
(Counter Magazine)

May 31, 2001

Alan Moon has long been one of my favorite game designers. The Elfen-games,
Airlines/Union Pacific, Freight Train/Reibach & Co.; all
innovative, thought-provoking, and entertaining games. Over the past
couple of years, however, Moon's offerings have tended to leave me
cold. Some were too family-oriented for my tastes; others too abstract;
quite a few seemed to be plagued with confusion over what the "best" set
of rules for them were. I don't know if you could call it a slump, but
I had begun to wonder if Alan would ever return to the level of
excellence he had established during much of the nineties.

Well, I'm happy to say that the Moon Man is back. San Marco, the latest
release from what appears to be the Partnership-for-Life of Moon and
Aaron Weissblum, is in my opinion the best game to come out of Germany
since Die Fürsten von Florenz and currently ranks as my favorite Moon
design.

The players are aristocratic families striving to gain prestige in
Renaissance Venice. If that theme sounds familiar, it's probably
because it's identical to that of another recent release, Doge. The two
games have virtually no mechanics in common, but I'm sure Ravensburger
was less than thrilled to see the appearance of the Colovini game at
Essen. Fortunately, San Marco does not repeat the mistake of its
predecessor and features a game board that is both attractive and
functional (they used color -- what a concept!).

Speaking of the board, it shows six Venetian districts, each separated
from its neighbors by a system of canals. In the time-honored fashion,
each district has two point values, awarded to the players with,
respectively, the highest and second highest number of aristocrats
present. (The aristocrats bear a striking resemblance to wooden
cubes.) In addition to each player's supply of aristocrats, there are a
dozen bridges and a single token representing the Doge. There are also
two decks of cards: an Action deck and a Limit deck.

These cards are the heart of the game, so let's begin with them. There
are five kinds of Action cards. Bridge cards allow you to place a
bridge between any two neighboring districts (the bridge is identified
as yours). District cards let you place one of your aristocrats in
either the named district or in an adjacent district connected to it by
one of your bridges. Transfer cards let you remove an opponent's
aristocrat in any district and replace it with your own. With one of
the much feared Banishment cards, you choose a district, roll a die, and
remove that number of aristocrats (your choice, but possibly including
your own if you roll too high). Finally, Doge cards let you score a
single district. You can either score the Doge's current location or
move him over bridges to another district and score it (but you have to
pay a Victory Point to any player whose bridge you cross).

Limit cards each have a number on them, either a one, two, or three. As
we will soon see, these are cards you very much want to avoid (but may
not be able to resist).

The game's main mechanism is the old pie dividing rule -- you know, I cut
the pie in two and you get to choose which half you want, thereby
ensuring a fair division. In each turn of the four player game, two
players are chosen to divide cards and two are chosen to select. For
example, Alice will divide for Bob and Charlie will divide for Doris.
Alice and Charlie are each given five Action cards and three Limit
cards. They each secretly divide their cards into two piles, with the
only restriction that each pile must contain at least one card. Then
Alice exposes her two piles, Bob chooses the one he wants, and acts on
each of the Action cards in it. Alice then takes the remaining pile and
uses all the Action cards it contains. Then Charlie exposes his two
piles, Doris takes the one she wants and acts on it, and Charlie does
the same with the remaining pile. At the end of all this, all the
Action cards are discarded, but everyone keeps the Limit cards that were
in the pile they chose. (Limit cards -- a second on the lips, a lifetime
on the hips.) Then it's on to the next turn of dividing and selecting.

This continues until one or more of the players has Limit cards with a
total value of 10 or more. If three or four players have reached this
total, then there will be no more turns in that round. (Rounds are called
passages in the game.) If only one or two players have hit the
Limit, then the remaining players participate in one more
dividing/selecting turn. In either case, any player with less than 10
Limit points at the end of the passage scores bonus points and the
player with the fewest Limit points gets a free Banishment. Then
everyone discards their Limit cards and a new passage begins. After
three passages have been played, each of the districts is scored and the
player with the most points wins.

The most distinguishable aspect of San Marco is the card splitting rule
and it is one of the most enjoyable mechanics I've ever encountered in a
board game. Essentially, you'll be faced with a Solomon-like division
problem about every other turn, each with different cards and under
differing circumstances. These problems are challenging and unlike
anything else you're likely to have encountered in other games, yet they
can usually be performed reasonably quickly and without excessive
angst. Choosing between two piles that have been created for you is
simpler, but still requires sound judgement and is almost as much fun.

The reason this works so well is that Weissblum and Moon have provided
us with a set of very different kinds of actions. You can't overstate
the importance of the Doge cards, since they're just about the only way
you can be sure of gaining points until the end of the game. Of course,
gain enough points early on and you might as well paint a large bullseye
on your forehead. District and Bridge cards let you slowly build up
your position on the board. Transfer and Banishment cards can tear down
the most impregnable of positions and are often highly prized as a
result. And Limit cards can deprive you of turns, points, and
aristocrats (if you're the victim of a free Banishment). Different
players will have their favorite types of cards and there's a goodly
number of differing strategies that can be attempted. Best of all, each
of these decisions are dependent upon the game situation: the
desirability of a District card depends upon what aristocrats are
present there or what bridges you have in place; a pile with a Limit
total of 3 might be a small annoyance to one player, while to another
with 7 Limit points in front of her, it's a major deterrent; and so on.
Trying to get into an opponent's head when dividing the cards is one of
the greater pleasures of this game, and successfully predicting how he
will choose is very satisfying (particularly if this allows you to get
the cards you really wanted).

The card division mechanic is strong enough to base an entire game
around. But San Marco adds a number of other interesting wrinkles,
surely the hallmark of a well designed game. I think the rules for
bridges are my favorite. They are very well implemented and fit the
theme beautifully. At first blush, bridge cards appear to pale in
importance to the other cards, but after a few games, you begin to
realize just how valuable a sound network of bridges can be. They give
you great flexibility, both in placing your pieces and in moving the
Doge. And the points they can provide when other players use them are
not inconsequential. The Limit cards allow the division mechanic to
work by providing consequences for those desirable actions. They also
give a second dimension to the game, which adds even more interest to
the division/selection process. Finally, even though the "give points
to the first and second largest group in a district" mechanic is far
from original, it is used to excellent effect here. One of the keys to
the game is to try to be the other player gaining points when the active
player scores the Doge and experienced players can often anticipate
which district will be scored by observing the location of bridges and
the Doge. And the rule that no one scores points if there is a tie
for second place in a district lends even more importance to the
placement of aristocrats and particularly, to transfer cards.

The physical design (by A. Cimatoribus, a name I am not familiar with)
is up to the usual high Ravensburger standard. As I mentioned earlier,
the board is both functional and very attractive. The background of
each district on the board is made up of drawings of buildings and other
items, a very pleasing and subtle effect. The only complaint I have
with the board is the inexplicable decision not to count the corner
squares as part of the scoring track that winds around the outside of
the board. In other words, if you don't look carefully, it appears to
take six squares to move from 20 to 25, because one of those "squares"
is actually the corner of the board. Once the players are made aware of
this it only represents a minor annoyance, but it is one that could have
very easily been avoided. The cards in the game are sturdy and well
designed; my favorite is the illustration on the Banishment cards, which
is suitably imposing. And I applaud the use of realistic looking
plastic bridges instead of some generic component, particularly since
the bridges tie so closely into the theme.

The end result is a game that is thought provoking, unique, and, above
all, very enjoyable. There is some luck present, but most of the
extremes of card distribution are self-correcting, because of the pie
division rule. Games tend to be quite close, since it is not at all
difficult to beat on the leader. Actually, a more difficult skill is
figuring out who the leader is, since so much of the scoring occurs at
the end of the game -- experienced players soon learn to at least
partially ignore the scoring track and check aristocrats and bridge
structure. Although there are plenty of subtleties in gameplay to be
discovered, this is a game that invariably plays very well the first
time. In fact, my initial trial of San Marco is one of the best gaming
experiences I've ever had. I've played half a dozen times since then
and my opinion hasn't diminished one bit.

The three player game plays very much like the four player. The main
difference is in the card dividing process. On every turn, one player
divides six Action and four Limit cards into three piles. One
opponent will be able to choose from all three piles, and the other will
choose from the two remaining piles, leaving the third for the divider.
I think I slightly prefer the four player game because dividing for two
is a little more enjoyable for me than dividing for three. But the fact
remains that if you're looking for a meaty game for three players, San
Marco is one of your best choices, which only adds to the game's appeal.

Are there any problems with the game, other than the fact that it can
handle no more than four? Well, it's not a game in which you can plan a
long term strategy. The game position can change, sometimes
dramatically, with every turn. The key is to be able to make the best
choices given the current situation. I actually prefer games like that,
but not everyone will agree. A more serious potential problem is the
time required to divide the cards. This is an unusual mechanic
requiring a very different way of thinking. Some players will pick it
up right away and some players will struggle with it. If a game has too
many struggling players, it can lead to some downtime issues. San Marco
definitely works best when played at a brisk pace, so this can diminish
the playing experience a bit. If your group is having this problem, I
would suggest playing with three. Although the dividing decisions can
be even thornier, there's no reason why the divider can't make his
choices with the cards face up. Letting everyone see what's coming up,
and possibly projecting how they would split the cards, effectively
eliminates the problem of downtime.

To summarize, San Marco is a very well crafted game featuring fresh,
unique mechanics and a fine physical appearance. It's a highly
enjoyable design that I would unquestionably recommend to any gamer.
Overall, a most impressive creation that places Alan Moon firmly back
into the winner's circle and ushers Aaron Weissblum into the select
company of star game designers.

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